Kim Jong-un&#39;s Communist regime said Australia was getting ready for war as it sends two warships to the Korean Peninsula. The supreme leader&#39;s henchmen said Australia&#39;s "military provocations" had pushed the North Korea crisis into a "touch-and-go phase".

The US is set to begin large scale naval exercises in the Western Pacific involving the navy of South Korea. The participants will include the carrier strike groups led by the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that has been specially modified to serve as a platform for launching a massive barrage of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.

Secretary of state says president is not undermining him on North Korea‘He is failing’: Trump strikes out solo as friends worry and enemies circleRex Tillerson worked on Sunday to reinforce the basic lines of US policy on major international issues such as Iran and North Korea, all while having to combat perceptions that his relationship with Donald Trump has deteriorated to the point the president is, in the words of one Republican senator, “castrating” his secretary of state. Related: 'We tried nice guys': conservative hardliners stay in a trance for Trump Continue reading...

Kim Jong-un&#39;s Communist regime said Australia was getting ready for war as it sends two warships to the Korean Peninsula. The supreme leader&#39;s henchmen said Australia&#39;s "military provocations" had pushed the North Korea crisis into a "touch-and-go phase".

The US is set to begin large scale naval exercises in the Western Pacific involving the navy of South Korea. The participants will include the carrier strike groups led by the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that has been specially modified to serve as a platform for launching a massive barrage of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.

US politician Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, sits in the Great Hall at Swansea University, prior to receiving an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her commitment to promoting the rights of families and children around the world, in Swansea, Wales, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. US politician Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, sits in the Great Hall at Swansea University, prior to receiving an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her commitment to promoting the rights of families and children around the world, in Swansea, Wales, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017.

The U.S. Navy is sending the USS Monterey, a guided-missile destroyer with ballistic missile defense capabilities, to East Asia to bolster America&#39;s defenses there amid threats from North Korea. The U.S. Navy is sending the USS Monterey, a guided-missile destroyer with ballistic missile defense capabilities, to East Asia to bolster America&#39;s defenses there amid threats from North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un&#39;s government has been building the coastal city of Wonsan into a beachside resort town, according to a report from Reuters. Wonsan occupies a special place in North Korean politics, acting as both a luxury getaway for elites and a testing ground for missile, artillery, and other military tests.

The US is set to begin large scale naval exercises in the Western Pacific involving the navy of South Korea. The participants will include the carrier strike groups led by the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that has been specially modified to serve as a platform for launching a massive barrage of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.

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President Donald Trump has "castrated" Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - creating the "binary" possibility of war with North Korea or Iran and the use of nuclear weapons, Sen. Bob Corker said Friday. "You cannot publicly castrate your own secretary of state without giving yourself that binary choice," the retiring Tennessee Republican told The Washington Post in an interview Friday.

Malaysia plans to "close down" its embassy in Pyongyang, a Foreign Ministry source said on Friday, confirming reports that the ministry has recommended to the cabinet that the country&#39;s embassy in China also be accredited to North Korea. "Wisma Putra will be putting up the recommendation for the cabinet to decide.

<ul><li>Secretary of state says president is not undermining him on North Korea</li><li>‘He is failing’: Trump strikes out solo as friends worry and enemies circle</li></ul>Rex Tillerson worked on Sunday to reinforce the basic lines of US policy on major international issues such as Iran and North Korea, all while having to combat perceptions that his relationship with Donald Trump has deteriorated to the point the president is, in the words of one Republican senator, “castrating” his secretary of state. Related: 'We tried nice guys': conservative hardliners stay in a trance for Trump Continue reading...

Former secretary of state refuses to say if successor Tillerson should go, as she decries Trump approach to Iran nuclear deal<ul><li>Clinton: Brexit vote was precursor to US election defeat</li></ul>Hillary Clinton has denounced Donald Trump’s bellicose language toward North Korea, believing his verbal aggression has rattled American allies and will set off a nuclear arms race in the region. Related: 'He is failing': Trump strikes out solo as friends worry and enemies circle Continue reading...

North Korea warns Australia ‘will not be able to avoid a disaster’ if it continues to ‘zealously’ support US’s stance against PyongyangNorth Korea has issued its latest threat against Australia for its relationship with the US and South Korea, but a Turnbull government minister said the nation would “not be cowed” by the rogue state. North Korean state media reported Australia was “showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the US against DPRK”, warning against it. Continue reading...

Bob Corker accuses the president of undercutting the secretary of state’s efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear program US Republican senator Bob Corker stepped up his public feud with Donald Trump on Friday, saying the president’s undermining of his secretary of state was like castrating him in public. Corker told the Washington Post in an interview that Trump had undercut Rex Tillerson’s efforts to enlist China in reining in North Korea’s nuclear program by denigrating the diplomat. Continue reading...

US president to speak to family of Megumi Yokota, taken in 1977 aged 13, in attempt to press North to resolve cold war abductionsDonald Trump will meet the parents of a teenager snatched from her home by North Korean spies 40 years ago when he visits Tokyo next month, as Japan attempts to maintain pressure on Pyongyang to resolve the cold war abductions of dozens of its citizens.The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said he was arranging for the president to meet Shigeru and Sakie Yokota, whose daughter, Megumi, was abducted from her hometown of Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast in November 1977, when she was 13 years old. Continue reading...

Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein
Yes, the idea of a close North Korea-China friendship is fundamentally flawed and deeply simplified. Yes, China is currently making life very difficult for those among its own citizens who are involved in business with North Korea, and for North Koreans at the other side of the business deals. And yes, China&#8217;s enforcement of sanctions against North Korea is hurting the country&#8217;s economy and the general public.
But that by no means that all ties have been cut. China&#8217;s policy on North Korea and sanctions is not a binary question of either or.
On September 26, 2017, Wall Street Journal reported that coal imports from North Korea, which went down to zero in February this year (at...

By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein
DailyNK reports:
Following the country’s sixth nuclear test on September 3, fuel prices in North Korea have been subject to unusual volatility. The price of fuel soared in April and rose again slightly in September. But it has been reported that gasoline coupons have not been influenced by the price fluctuations, and are being actively traded on the North Korean black markets.
&#8220;As fuel prices have been fluctuating, gasoline coupons have become popular items in Pyongyang&#8217;s black markets. The merchants who previously bought dozens of coupons have started offering them for sale as the prices began to rise,&#8221; a source familiar with North Korean affairs in China told Daily NK...

By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein
Historically, market prices in North Korea (as reported by Daily NK) have tended to remain surprisingly stabile throughout many periods of tension and crisis. At times, while the rest of the world has seemed to be running for the bomb shelters, market prices in North Korea have barely moved, suggesting a lack of belief within North Korea that sanctions will be implemented or that imports will get restricted as a result of the tensions.
This time, it&#8217;s different.
While DailyNK&#8217;s market price database has not been updated since August 4th, news reports from inside North Korea suggest prices are much higher than they normally would be, as a result of news of added sanctions and...

Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein
I&#8217;ll try to gather some of the many stories on the impact of sanctions on the North Korean economy in this post, starting with the one below from Reuters (with my annotation in brackets, [BKS]):
DANDONG, China (Reuters) &#8211; The United Nations may have failed to slow North Korea’s weapons programs, but the country’s economy is already showing signs it is feeling the squeeze from the ongoing clampdown on trade, including a curb on fuel sales by China.
The latest sanctions agreed on Monday by the UN Security Council ban the export of textiles from North Korea, one of its few substantial foreign currency earners. They also capped imports of oil and refined products, without...

UPDATE: Here is coverage in CNN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Vice.
ORIGINAL POST: Google blocked several important YouTube channels that make North Korean television broadcasts available to the public. This action deals a grave setback to the work of open-source researchers focused on North Korea&#8217;s leadership, economy, military, and human rights situation.
The two most important channels which were blocked are:
1. Uriminzokkiri (terminated for &#8220;violating YouTube&#8217;s community guidelines&#8221; on 2017-9-8)
2. Chongryun (first terminated for &#8220;violating YouTube&#8217;s community guidelines&#8221; on 2017-9-8, then restored on 2017-9-11, then terminated a second time due to &#8220;legal complaint&#8221; on 2017-9-12) [dates...

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Asian Studies (http://asianstudies.unc.edu) invites applications for a tenure-track position in Korean studies at the rank of Assistant Professor, to begin July 1, 2018. The Department seeks a promising scholar and teacher who will actively contribute to the intellectual mission of a research institution. Duties will include teaching, research, and service. Participation in the continued development of the Department&#8217;s program in Korean studies is expected.
The Department of Asian Studies welcomes applicants with doctoral degree in hand or near completion in Korean studies, Korean language and literature, or related fields such as, but not...

Università Ca’ Foscari opens a permanent position of Associate Professor in Korean Studies (Korean philosophy, religion, art history, language) in Venice, Italy.
See detailed information here:
http://intra.unive.it/plapps/bandi/common/file_bandi/27754.pdf
Teaching activities:
The candidate shall be required to execute teaching activities in the BA, MA and PhD courses included in by the established curriculum of the Department of Asian and North African Studies. He or she will be required to teach courses on Modern and Premodern History of Korean Religions and Philosophies, preferably also a course on the History of Korean Art (Pre-modern preferred). The candidate must be willing to teach Korean...

The Academy of Korean Studies is announcing the 2017 Laboratory Program for Korean Studies. The application period is 2017. 10. 13. ~ 10. 26. Here is a link for the formal application: http://ksps.aks.ac.kr/hpjsp/hmpeng/ntc/newsntcview.jsp?H100_NO=4466
Program Objectives
◦ Strengthening the international competitiveness of Korean Studies by publishing internationally recognized pieces of research.
Restrictions on Applications and Participation
□ Researchers may be given Ministry of Education research grants (including Korean Studies Promotion Program, NRF research grants, etc.) for up to three projects per person. However, he/she may serve as project director for only one project, and the...

Boston University’s Department of World Languages & Literatures invites applications for a renewable full-time lecturer position in Korean, beginning July 1, 2018. Responsibilities include teaching at all levels of language in BU&#8217;s thriving Korean program, participating in curriculum development and other program activities. Minimum requirements include an MA in Korean, second-language acquisition, applied linguistics, Korean linguistics, or a relevant field; native or near-native command of Korean and English; demonstrated excellence in college-level Korean language teaching in North America, commitment to a proficiency-based communicative curriculum, leadership and administrative ability, as well as...

The Center for Korean Research in the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University invites applications for its 2018-2019 Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) Postdoctoral Fellowship. The Center is searching for a scholar who conducts Korea-related research in any discipline in the humanities or social sciences. We are particularly interested in candidates whose work is interdisciplinary and connects Korea to broader East Asian and global issues or concerns. The Fellow will teach one course each semester in her/his area of expertise as well as pursue her/his own research. The Fellow will be provided the opportunity to organize events related to her/his research interests and will participate actively...

As I&#8217;ve mentioned previously, this has been a busy month for me, and a difficult one for keeping up with the many developments in North Korea sanctions enforcement. Over the last months, I&#8217;ve been keeping a tally of how those efforts are taking shape. The accumulating evidence now gives reason for guarded optimism that at last, the sanctions are starting to show significant effects.
Financial. Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker sent the right message to the financial industry in her recent testimony before the Senate Banking Committee:
Banks worldwide should take note that we are acting to protect the U.S. financial system from North Korean illicit financial activity. The new authorities granted to...

Long-time readers know that I’ve had many uncomplimentary things to say about the Associated Press’s North Korea coverage. Its still-undisclosed agreements with the North Korean government to open a bureau in Pyongyang sacrificed journalistic ethics for a dubious dividend of access. Since opening its bureau in 2012, AP and its state-supplied North Korean stringers have reported a great deal of North Korean government propaganda and almost no actual news, while ignoring major news stories (to include a hotel fire, a building collapse, the taking of at least a dozen foreign hostages, and multiple purge rumors).
Careful readers also know that I’ve singled out AP reporter Tim Sullivan as a bright spot in...

A blog about North Korea never suffers from a shortage of material; rather, it is more likely to suffer from an insufficiency of time to curate such an abundance of material. A post that isn’t ready for publication when my train arrives at my stop may sit unfinished for hours, weeks, or even years. So it was last May, shortly after the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, when an intriguing video first emerged of Jong-nam’s son, Kim Han-sol, claiming that a group calling itself Cheollima Civil Defense had spirited him away to safety from Pyongyang’s agents.
Cheollima Civil Defense’s Korean- and English-language website is here, and has a link for financial contributions. Because this site has been...

First, the North Korea commentariat told us that the Yongbyon reactor might be for no more nefarious purpose than generating electricity (never mind that it was never connected to the electrical grid). Then, it told us that the North merely wanted aid and recognition by the United States, to better provide for the people it had so recently starved to death in heaps, the dust of whose loves and aspirations now fills a thousand forlorn and forgotten pits in the barren hills of Hamgyeong. It told us that Pyongyang only wanted to open itself up to the world and bask in our gentle rays of glasnost and perestroika. It told us that if we were willing to disregard the good sense of the voting public and pay enough...

It has been a busy month, but I finally found time last weekend to update the OFK sanctions explainer page with summaries of UNSCR 2371, UNSCR 2375, the Korean Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions (KIMS) Act, and last week’s Executive Order 13810. I hope to find time to update the sub-pages over the coming weeks.

The Council of the European Union (EU) agreed on new sanctions against North Korea on Monday targeting the country’s ability to generate funds supporting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The measures imposed by the Council include a broad investment ban as well as other restrictions pertaining to oil and sending personal remittances to the DPRK.
“On 16 October 2017, the Council decided to further expand the ban on EU investment in and with the DPRK to all sectors, to lower the amount of personal remittances that could be sent to the DPRK from EUR 15,000 to EUR 5,000, and to impose an oil export ban to the DPRK,” Regulation 1858 reads.
&#8220;In addition, with a view to eliminating remittances to...

Seoul and Washington are in the process of devising a new wartime operational plan, the chairman of the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Monday, amid reports that the current plans had been obtained by DPRK-linked hackers.
“We are drawing up a new operational plan while re-estimating overall conditions, including our capabilities in accordance with North Korea’s new advanced threats,” General Jeong Kyeong-doo said during a parliamentary audit.
“This is an issue we continue to review… we plan to continue consultation [with Washington],” he added.
South Korean lawmaker Rhee Cheol-hee last week said that North Korea-linked hackers had stolen classified military documents, including current...

More pro-North Korean leaflets, potentially sent by the DPRK via balloon, were found in South Korea&#8217;s capital on Sunday and Monday, describing U.S. President Donald Trump as a “crazy dog&#8221; and calling for his dismemberment.
The cartoons come amid a flurry of pro-North leaflets appearing in Seoul in recent weeks.
Found on Mount Bukhan in northern Seoul on Monday, one leaflet calls the President “crazy” and depicts him as a dog with a missile in his mouth, featuring the phrase “total destruction of North Korea&#8221; &#8211; echoing a speech by Trump at the UN in September.
In the cartoon, Trump, clad in bandages, stands at the podium of the UN General Assembly on a paper reading “sanctions on North...

We frequently read that North Korea is absolutely steeped in the legacy and the lessons of the Korean War. Look no further than the spate of recent essays which sought to explain that North Korea has never really recovered from the brutality of three years of American aerial pummelling of its cities.
The Korean War, we are often reminded, is the North&#8217;s ultimately fuel for anti-American education, as well as the legitimate foundation of the pervasive sense of insecurity that North Koreans feel from that unfinished war. Historian Bruce Cumings, whose work is often imitated and criticized but rarely surpassed in the genre, calls the North Koreans &#8220;the party of memory&#8221; when it comes to the war, juxtaposed...

A graphic propaganda leaflet found by NK News in central Seoul over the weekend calls for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump, with his head crushed under the boot of a North Korean soldier.
“We need to give death to old crazy man Donald Trump,&#8221; the leaflet says, which was likely sent from North Korea by balloon. &#8220;Complete extermination&#8221; reads a slogan at the top of the design.
The back of the leaflet shows a message saying &#8220;Chosun&#8217;s answer&#8221; and includes a design of a missile attack on Washington, DC.
The emergence of the sole leaflet in a downtown Seoul location – opposite a police station – follows two weeks of North Korean leaflets showing up around Seoul, all of which have most likely been...